[Leica] Testing 70-200 range lenses on the A7II

[Mark Kronquist]

The Minolta made 80-200 Leica r lens is available for naught all over.  Ditto the rokkor parent lens.  What of the manual focus Nikon Nikkor 80-200 f4.5 cheap. Great. Shot dead and company with in on Nikon f 1967 black and brassy at autzen u of o last night

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> On Jul 1, 2018, at 6:42 AM, Frank Filippone <red735i at verizon.net> wrote:
> 
> Yes , more testing of legacy lenses against the current whiz bang
> wunderkinds…..  I am trying to get a great optically, light weight kit of
> lenses for my A7ii, without spending a fortune.
> 
> 
> 
> The lenses are 
> 
> 
> 
> Leica 70-210 F4 Vario Elmar    Introduced in 1984…. !
> 
> Nikon AF-D 75-240 F4.5-5.6  Introduced in 1999.  Only 1 year of production.
> 
> Nikon AF 70-210 F4    1986-1987 production
> 
> Nikon AF-G 70-200 F4  Current lens
> 
> Komura 85-205 F3.8  Not worth looking up….. Pre AIS.
> 
> 
> 
> ( Sony lenses, 70-210 F4, are $1K used.  The most expensive lens in the test
> set was $600.  If I were to spend $1k on a lens in this range, it would be
> the Leica 80-200 F4.  Supposed to be great!)
> 
> 
> 
> Tests were done by photographing my notorious 45 year old natural grey cedar
> fence in the front yard, about 25 feet distance, in bright sun.
> 
> Test settings were… 70mm ( or shortest), 135mm, 200mm and  Longest focal
> length, if over 200mm.
> 
> Test shots were taken at Wide open ( F4 or about F4), F8, and F16.  All
> combinations of focal length and f stop.
> 
> Focusing was done by the modern equivalent of ground glass, at selected FL
> and aperture.  Some lenses had a noticeable amount of focus shift from
> change of aperture.  With an EVF, this is a pretty trivial concern.
> 
> The same adapter was used on all, the Fotodiox Pro Smart AF adapter ( the
> one purported to blow up your A7  camera, which has never happened except
> once …. To someone else.    It should be noted that ALL the Nikon lenses had
> full camera operable apertures through this adapter.  However, AF does not
> work on any AF lens with Nikon body AF screw, and the G lens did not work in
> AF with this adapter.)    The adapter is going off on Monday to be replaced
> by a new Fotodiox AF adapter that has a better track record for not blowing
> up cameras.
> 
> Lenses were checked for IQ in the center of the frame…. 
> 
> No IBIS, the camera was tripod mounted.
> 
> 
> 
> Let’s get the worst one out of the way… The Komura was just not in the same
> class as the others.  Even for the $9.00 I paid for it, it was terrible.
> 
> 
> 
> Now the surprise winner…. The Leica 70-210 just was great…. Better than
> anything else by a pretty good margin.  
> 
> #2 was the Nikon 75-240, considered to be a lowly consumer lens ( lower
> quality than the Pro lenses..????).. and the lightest lens by ½…. 
> 
> #3 was the Nikon AF-G Wunderkind be all and end all…. It did not hold up at
> any aperture of focal length to the Leica…. At the longer FL, beat out the
> 75-240 by a bit….  But its cost is greater by factor of 5, so it loses out
> on at least price / performance ratio…..
> 
> The Nikon AF 80-200 F4, while considered a cult lens of superior quality,
> just did not cut it.. the faster lens performed quite a bit worse than its
> newer, lighter, and cheaper sibling….
> 
> 
> 
> Ergonomically, all the Nikon lenses worked great with the adapter, for iris
> control.  The Leica requires full manual operation….
> 
> I do not need AF.  I am lazy and like to have it, but do not need it.
> 
> The non-G Nikon lenses require manual focusing…no big deal for accuracy, BUT
> the focus ring in on the outermost part of the lens and is hard to grab to
> focus.    The G lens has a nice big wide focus ring.
> 
> The best Nikon lens weighed in at 410g
> 
> The Leica  weighs 720g
> 
> The Nikon G lens weighs 850g
> 
> Plus the appropriate adpter.
> 
> 
> 
> One last comment.. the Leica lens showed a bit of a color shift towards the
> blue.  Certainly correctable, if it bothers.
> 
> 
> 
> So there it is…. The Leica lens was the best optically ( but you knew
> that)…..
> 
> 
> Which will I bring to my next big trip?????? It gets down to more automatic
> features or better IQ.  
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Frank Filippone
> 
> 
> 
> Red735i at verizon.net
> 
> 
> 
> 
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